Silent Hill
Silent Hill (Japanese: サイレントヒル Hepburn: Sairento Hiru?) is a survival horror video game series consisting of nine installments published by Konami and its subsidiary Konami Digital Entertainment. The first four games in the series, Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, 3, and 4, have been developed by an internal group, Team Silent (a development staff within former Konami subsidiary Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo). The latter five games, Silent Hill: Origins, Homecoming, Shattered Memories, Downpour and Book of Memories, have been developed by various external developers. Silent Hill is set in a multiverse consisting of reality and an alternate dimension whose form is based on the series' eponymous fictitious American town. The series is heavily influenced by the literary genre of psychological horror, with its player characters being mostly "everymen", in contrast to action-oriented survival horror video game series featuring combat-trained player characters, such as Resident Evil, which is widely regarded as Silent Hill's strongest "rival". Miscellaneous adaptations of Silent Hill have been released, including various in print media, two feature films, and spin-off video games. Installment Overview ImageSize = width:250 height:400 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:20 top:10 right:0 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1999 till:2012 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical order:reverse ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1999 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1999 Colors = id:black value:rgb(0,0,0) id:red value:rgb(0.9,0.05,0.05) # there is no automatic collision detection, # so shift texts up or down manually to avoid overlap Define $dx = 25 # shift text to right side of bar # shift texts up or down when two have same year Define $up = shift:($dx,1) Define $dw = shift:($dx,-8) PlotData= bar:Games anchor:till color:blue width:15 textcolor:blue align:left fontsize:S mark:(line,white) shift:($dx,-4) from:1999 till:2012 at:1999 text:"Silent Hill" at:2001 text:"Silent Hill 2" at:2003 text:"Silent Hill 3" at:2004 text:"Silent Hill 4: The Room" at:2007 text:"Silent Hill: Origins" at:2008 text:"Silent Hill Homecoming" at:2009 text:"Silent Hill: Shattered Memories" at:2012 text:"Silent Hill: Downpour" at:2012 shift:($dx,-15) text:"Silent Hill: Book of Memories" ''Silent Hill'' Silent Hill is the first installment in the series and was released in 1999 for the PlayStation. In 2009, the game became available for download from the European PlayStation Network store for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Portable and later, in the same year, from the North American PlayStation Network store. Silent Hill follows Harry Mason as he searches for his missing adopted daughter in the series' multiverse; stumbling upon a cult conducting a ritual to revive a deity it worships, he discovers her true origin. Five game endings are possible, depending on in-game actions taken by the player, including one joke ending. ''Silent Hill 2'' Silent Hill 2 is the second installment in the series and was released in September 2001 for the PlayStation 2. An extended version of the game was released for the Xbox in December of the same year as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams in North America and Silent Hill 2: Inner Fears in Europe, and for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 as Silent Hill 2: Director's Cut, with a port of Director's Cut to Microsoft Windows released in December 2002. A high-definition re-release of Silent Hill 2 was released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on March 20, 2012 as part of Silent Hill HD Collection. Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland as he searches for his deceased wife in the series' multiverse after having received a letter from her informing him that she is waiting for him in Silent Hill, ultimately realizing her death's true cause. ''Silent Hill 3'' Silent Hill 3 is the third installment in the series and was released in May 2003 for the PlayStation 2, with a port to Microsoft Windows released in October of the same year. A direct sequel to the first installment in the series, A high-definition re-release of Silent Hill 3 was released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on March 20, 2012 as part of Silent Hill HD Collection. Silent Hill 3 follows a teenage girl named Heather as she navigates the series' multiverse, trapped in it, becoming caught in a conflict within Silent Hill's cult and ultimately discovering her life's true origin. ''Silent Hill 4: The Room'' Silent Hill 4: The Room is the fourth installment and was released in 2004 for the PS2, the Xbox and Microsoft Windows. The game follows Henry Townshend, who finds himself locked in his apartment and discovers in it a portal to the series multiverse's alternate dimension. ''Silent Hill: Origins'' The fifth installment, Silent Hill: Origins, known as Silent Hill Zero in Japan, was developed by Climax Studios and released in 2007 for the PSP, with a port for the PS2 released in 2008. It is a prequel with a plot that features Travis Grady, who becomes trapped in Silent Hill after rescuing a girl from a burning house. During his quest to find the fate of the burned girl, he encounters characters from the first game and some new ones from his own subconscious. ''Silent Hill Homecoming'' The sixth installment, Silent Hill Homecoming, was developed by Double Helix Games and released in 2008 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 and in 2009 for Microsoft Windows. The plot follows Alex Shepherd, a soldier who has returned from a war overseas. Alex discovers upon his arrival that his father has gone missing, his mother has become catatonic, and no one can provide the whereabouts of his younger brother, Joshua. The game chronicles Alex's search to find his missing brother. ''Silent Hill: Shattered Memories'' The seventh installment, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, was developed by Climax Studios and published by Konami Digital Entertainment for the Wii in December 2009, with ports for the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable released in January 2010. The game is a reimagining of the first installment. Shattered Memories retains the premise of the original game—Harry Mason's quest to find his missing daughter in the American town of Silent Hill—but is set in a different fictional universe, following a different plot, with characters from the first game appearing altered alongside new ones. Gameplay takes place in two parts: a framing, first-person psychotherapy session with an unseen patient and an over-the-shoulder perspective of Harry's journey through Silent Hill, periodically interrupted by the occurrence of a shift to an alternate dimension where he is pursued by monsters. Five endings are available, their achievement being based on in-game actions taken by the player, including a joke ending: all reveal Harry and his quest to be a fantasy of his daughter who is the adult session patient, caused by her denial of his death which occurred years ago; depending on the ending achieved, she either accepts his death and dismisses the fantasy or clings to the latter; afterwards, character traits of Harry and his family, which are subject to change in each playthrough of the game according to player in-game actions, from a period when he was alive, are depicted in a video clip. Shattered Memories gameplay focuses on completion of psychological tests which alter in-game elements, while in the first setting, and exploration, puzzle solving, and monster evasion, when in the second setting. The game's developers avoided integrating combat into the second setting's gameplay, centering instead on a weaponless player character attempting to rescue themselves from powerful opponents, as they considered this to be more fear-inducing. The game received generally positive reviews, with its graphics, storyline, voice acting, soundtrack, and use of the Wii Remote as the Wii version's controller praised by reviewers; Shattered Memories chase sequences and duration, though, were criticized by certain reviewers, because they deemed them potentially frustrating and short, respectively. ''Silent Hill: Downpour'' The eighth installment in the series, titled Silent Hill: Downpour, was announced in April 2010 and released by Vatra Games for the PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 13, 2012. The plot follows player character Murphy Pendleton, a prisoner who is stranded in Silent Hill after the prison transport vehicle he is being transported with careens off a road. It is the first game in the series to feature 3D (stereoscopic) graphics. ''Silent Hill: Book of Memories'' The ninth installment, titled Silent Hill: Book of Memories, was released in October 2012 for the PlayStation Vita. The game, which is not canonical to the series, as well as a spin-off, it is developed by WayForward Technologies and has yet to be "concept-approved" by Sony Computer Entertainment of America, the console's developer. Book of Memories will utilize an overhead isometric view, follow a new storyline, and feature returning creatures from the series' fictional universe, as well as cooperative gameplay; the game will be the first installment in the series to feature multiplayer gameplay. According to series producer Tomm Hulett, Book of Memories gameplay will be largely different from the one established in previous installments in the series, "focusing on cooperative multiplayer action rather than traditional psychological horror." Category:Game Franchise